Slowly I CERN ... Step By Step ... Inch By Inch ...

1. Scientists at the LHC at CERN have been playing games with their colleagues regarding the likely energy levels of the Higgs boson.
2. At the Lepton Photon conference in Mumbai, these same scientists are now saying their results are less statistically significant than they first thought - a statistical quirk is how they describe the data that led to their initial reports.
3. By doubling the amount of data used, they've moved from 2.8 to 2 sigma significance.
4. Despite this decrease in certitude, they're claiming that this loss of certitude is actually giving them a better chance of finding the so called "God particle" in the near future.

Once again, it would appear that the scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider are playing "Hide the Boson" with their colleagues / competitors. It seems quite clear that the only reason to publish these reports is to send other teams off on wild boson chases in the wrong energy ranges yet again.
We can only hope that the other research teams will stop taking the bait and recognize a red herring when they see one.

Posted by Procrustes 17

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